


Mercy

by LaughingHollow (sugoi)



Series: The Pale Prince [3]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Heavy Angst, being totally op and always arriving late to the party, grimmchild dosent play nice, the knight doing what they do best, tiso being an idiot like usual
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23079100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugoi/pseuds/LaughingHollow
Summary: Some would tell him to get rid of it, it was a disadvantaged and risky weapon, some would claim him Seeking for his death, while others would call him a fool, they'd say it held no value, no use was a weapon that could not protect its wielder...Tiso knew them to be wrong..
Relationships: The Knight & Tiso
Series: The Pale Prince [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601743
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	Mercy

**Author's Note:**

> Is it glaringly obvious i have a bone to pick with the coliseum of fools?

Kingdom's edge

  
The acid bitten bodies reeked, corpses of countless warriors, thousands who had sold their souls for a chance of fleeting glory.

What was to come of gaining such a thing as eternal life if it but only lasted sparse seconds and those luckily enough to obtain it only held it for as long as it took their companions to drive a nail through their back?

If you asked Tiso before finding the coliseum of fools he would have answered "Everything, for honor, for glory, to live and make a name for yourself in the spotlight, to prove your worth"

However if you asked Tiso after meeting the ghost, watching the bodies sacrificed for entertainment tossed carelessly over the many ridges that dotted kingdom's edge, after hearing the crowd jeer and rejoice in his blind pain, as his fellow warriors savagely carved into his shell, after his death.

He would admit that it amounted to nothing...nothing at all.

Tiso recalled the ghost's final plea, he was surprised to find they had beat him to the coliseum of fools, and had even signed up to fight as well, this excited Tiso, he promised to see them on the battlefield, his ever so silent companion responded with a dip of their head, they waited beside him on the bench for a long while.

The warrior acted like he wasn't interested but he watched them closely, he was curious as to what their story was, where they came from, from he knew they were a traveler, apparently they traversed the land quite rabidly, the whole of hollownest and more, for everywhere he found himself the silent knight had already been.

he was once told by a scholar, quirrel if he recalled, that the nameless knight was titled as "ghost" by the legendary sentinel of hollownest, who they had supposedly beat in one on one combat, a feat of which Tiso highly doubted. Still it was worth noting, they made it there did they not?

They watched the knight wander the coliseum respite pit, the sprinted the entirety of the den, casually and quite impromptully stabbing and striking at the walls, there was a time Tiso took his eyes off them for but a moment only to find they had vanished into thin air.

More then confused Tiso literally left his seat and actively sought the little bug out, but to no avail they were nowhere to be found, he was forced to abandon his search when the first tournament called its warriors.

When as his time came to shine, he embraced it, fully expecting to prevail, to conquer his enemies like he had trained whole life for, he fought for glory as it felt so close, it would be easy this was only the warm up trials, the first taste of what is demanded to become the king of the arena.

  
The ghost was there as well, though he never saw them enter the arena, when they all lined up, the knight stood facing them, oddly enough something in the way they stood seemed different, they held their nail out a few inches from their body, clinched in their little soft hands in a way that exuded aggression?

Tiso was surprised the small traveler could manage to look so formidable with such a small stature but they did, their stance was obviously in challenge, defiance not only to the other warriors in the arena, but also to the thrill thirsty crowed ravenously waiting for the first blood to be drawn.

The creature that commonly followed the knight around was there as well, hissing ominously as it appraised those around it through leering narrowed eyes, fire brewing in its slightly cracked mouth.

There was a moment of dead silence, Tiso was certain no warrior uttered a single breath, he could feel the knight's eyes burrowing into his shell, and his eyes met theirs just as the drum rang, shattering the euphoric solidity of the moment, then everything was a blur of blood and noise.

Tiso had spent years preparing for this but somehow seeing the different colors of blood, pooling and merging in puddles made his stomach lurch, everything was happening so fast he could hardly see, there wasn't a breath between fending off one foe to the next.

He had just freed the head from the shoulders of a huge burly roach when he spotted the knight, their cape was stained with blood as they savagely carved their way through hoards of enemies, but there was a armored brut swiftly up behind them.

They most certainly would have struck their mark had they made it to their target, and even now Tiso doesn't understand what possessed him to intervene, he told himself it was because he himself planned to challenge the knight but not even he was sure if that was true.

Tiso cut down the warrior, his bladed disk, cutting through shell and carapace with lightning speed, the knight hardly noticed he was behind them, unfortunately someone else had...

Before Tiso could even right himself, he heard brittle hiss, there was a flap of wings, it was the only warning he had to dive before the searing scarlet ball of fire shot past him, slamming into the corpse beside him and igniting it in flames.

The little beast's aim was just shy of his head, and as it hovered staring him down through furious scarlet eyes, he somehow suspected that the creature had missed on purpose, as if that was just a warning...

Albeit a very extreme warning, he didn't have time to pounder the ghost's odd companions, as he was thrown back into the fray of battle, as a massive swarm of primal aspids were released into the arena to cull off the remaining warriors, most of which were exhausted like Tiso or already in throws of death.

What were they thinking? there was few enough left as it was! at this rate they would kill them all, there would be no winners if this kept up...or was that the plan all along?

Tiso watched in horror as four aspids cornered a warrior, catching the unfortunate bug's head with bright yellow acid, they howled in agony as the shell was melted from their face, their floundering just instigating the cruel bugs to spit more, in but a moment they were reduced to a lump of shelless twitching flesh.

The ghost was having a hard time as well, having taken refuge under one of the many suspended pillars, were they hid from the viscous pests and their acid, while seemingly working a spell on themselves.

If before this was a culling, this was a slaughter, their was but a small handful of warriors left, the battlefield was drenched in blood, most having given up fighting each other in the presence of a common enemy, they banded together in small groups

But Tiso was wise, he stayed on the outlier, the groups quickly fell prey to the obscene amount of aspids, trapped within their out ring of allies, when the attacks came raining in there was non escape, Tiso felt sick on the putrid smell of burning shell and flesh clogged the air as their dying cries were drowned out by the cheering audience.

Tiso was so distracted by the scene before him he took little notice to the gates opening as ten sharp baldurs flooded into the arena, he wasn't prepared at all, and in his hasty attempt to block the creature's attack, he was knocked clear of his feet, his bladed shield sent fly, the baldur's blade wedging itself deep within his shoulder and tearing a chunk of shell and flesh free of his body.

His eyesight flashed white when he hit the floor with a momentum that sent him rolling, rocks and discarded armor biting into his bruised thorax, everything was a blurring together Tiso stomach lurched painfully as bile rose up his throat.

Tiso was in pain, so much pain but he needed to get up, but his body refused to comply even as the sharp baldur reached the end of the arena and twirled around to close in for a second round.

As soon as his vision cleared, he searched desperately for his shield only to find his trusted weapon discarded on the arena floor bent and warped out of shape.

Useless even if he could reach it, one of the blades were missing, what good was a broken weapon he couldn't even reach?

The baldur lurched into its next roll, barreling towards Tiso with lethal speed, the warrior was reduced dragging himself in the futile hopes of reaching his weapon before the baldur hit its mark, he could feel the ground vibrate as its blades tore up earth and debris in it's wake.

Tiso reached out for his weapon, fingers stretched in desperation, he did not want to die the death of a cowered, weaponless and crawling around like a grub, he wanted to die fighting a war he'd be remembered by valiantly fighting with his bladed shield held proud.

No he would not die running from an enemy...

This would most certainly be a inglorious demise the warrior thought to himself as he abandoned his attempts to reach his shield, staggering to his feet to face the advancing beast, it didn't matter if he had no shield, he would fight the damned thing with his claws if he had to.

But just as the baldur was upon him despite his warrior soul, for all his courage preached he flinched, bracing himself in fear of the unavoidable pain to come, but it didn't.. Instead he was splashed with a mouthful of bug blood.

Tiso chocked and sputtered, as the foreign substance stung his throat, his legs gave out under the harsh bout of coughing that wracked his bruised lungs.

When the warrior finally caught his breath he glanced up just as the sharp baldur's body hit the dirt with a wet splat, its corpse cleaved in two, the knight loomed in front him, their nail dripping with blood,  
Somehow they seemed taller, more imposing then ever before, their shadow seemed to stretch and reach for all the corners of the coliseum.

Two primal aspids rushed the warriors, their attention aimed on the knight, spitting acid in a savage frenzy, the knight as they hovered close but out of reach of weapon and nail, the knight dodged quite a few, but even they couldn't avoid the obscene shower of acid they were faced with.

Tiso cringed as a huge ball of acid collided with the small warrior, the force knocking them down mid jump, their companion shriek in alarm as the ghost hit the ground beside him.

There was a heartbeat they didn't move, their deathly cold shell just barely touching Tiso's, the aspids were getting more rambunctious, 4 more had joined their ranks and now had begin circling the two warriors.

Without thinking Tiso grabbed onto the little warrior, he tried to cover them with his, shield their no doubt unconscious body from as many blows as he could before it was all over.

Above them the ghost's flying pet was screeching up a storm, its mouth was foaming as it repeatedly shot flames at the savage bugs, its rushed and haphazard attempts at aim, lost it many opportunities to shoot the aspids, but there was so many Tiso couldn't blame the small beast for panicking.

Suddenly the creature's head jerked towards Tiso, then much to Tiso's utter disbelief, it fled, leaving behind it's master without so much a glance back, if Tiso was in a less dire consequences he would have spat at its desertance, but he had not the luxury, because in the creature's wake came all the aspids it had been holding off.

Just as the beasts closed in and the sound of gossamer wings become deafening, Tiso felt a shove, it was the ghost struggling against his protective hold, but Tiso held fast.

"Nice for you to decide to join us at such a time but if i- ugh wait its dangerous-i" Tiso was unable to keep his hold of the little warriors as they easily pried his arms apart with surprisingly alarming strength and swiftly jumped up, upon seeing the aspid they dropped their nail much to Tiso's absolute horror.

Did they hit their head to hard, or were they just insane?, was this their way of giving up? Just lay down their weapon and die? Tiso could couldn't believe this was the bug that had survived a spar with the Sentinel of hollownest!

The aspids hovered dangerously close, their mouths leaked acid as they prepared to strike at any moment, but as they drew close Tiso heard something ominous, it was like s whisper, slowly raising in intensity, he looked to the ghost whom the sound was originating from and he saw it..

The pitch black behind their depth-less eyes was trying to escape them, lashing out of the sockets, wreathing tendrils of darkness whipped against their mask for but a moment before they pulsed, the sound spiked into a shattering cacophony of screams, the screech filled the walls of the coliseum, the shadowy specters surrounding the ghost swallowed their form in shadows, only their bright white eyes could be seen.

Tiso had to cover his ears lest his head explode, the sound was haunting, blood curdling cries from a thousand bleeding souls, around them the baldurs exploded, the swarm of aspids hit the floor, blood spilling from their mandibles and eyes as they struggled against nothing then ceased moving.

When the warriors scream died down to a bearable level the whole arena was desolate, those remaining crumpled in on each other, covered in the blood of their foes and allies, the audience was silent, frozen in shocked silence as the knight picked up their nail.

There was a puff of smoke as their pet reappeared beside the ghost, Tiso watched to stunned to move as the little warrior pet it's head, they then commenced to look around themselves curious, walking around the parameter stabbing and swiping at the dead corpses, they noticed Tiso shield and picked it up.

Meanwhile the audience started cheering, the gasps of other warriors could be heard as they realized they survived the trial of initiation, sparkling geo showered the floor, as the crowed hurled the currency, carelessly displaying their appreciation for a good show without thought of the puddles of blood from wasted lives the shiny rocks fell into.

  
Tiso hardly paid attention, instead he watched as the knight cleaned the debris off his battered shield before trotting back over to him, offering the weapon, he stared at them and they tilted their head in question and stared back stoically.

It was so odd how Tiso hardly knew anything about this mysterious traveler, they had seldom shown emotion, they never spoke a word to him, or anyone.

But Tiso was certain they were his friend.

* * *

Tiso stared down at his bladed shield, it was ruined, scraped badly, a chunk of a metal blade was missing, from the center to the end was bent far beyond repair.

Still Tiso stubbornly tried to bend it back into shape, his bandaged arm quaking with pain as the torn tendons burned with strain.

Some would tell him to get rid of it, it was a disadvantaged and risky weapon, some would claim him Seeking for his death, while others would call him a fool, they'd say it held no value, no use was a weapon that could not protect its wielder...Tiso knew them to be wrong..

In truth it was priceless to the warrior, It wasn't always a shield, no, the shell of a fallen friend, molded into a weapon, he assured them he'd take them to glory, he promised he'd be brave, he wouldn't fear death like he had in the past, when his hesitation demanded the steepest of prices, he'd achieve greatness and them along with him.

He had loved them, but cowardice took precedence, in fear of rejection, scorn and solitude, the warrior had inadvertently paved a molt between them, but by the time he realized this, his chance to rectify this was stripped from him.

  
No...Tiso wouldn't let it happen again.

Around him warriors and fools alike, licked their wounds and rested their aching shells, the air of despondence was suffocating, though non shared the bench the warrior rested against, they all seemed to be packed to close.

The instinct to leave, flee the sinking pit slowly swallowing them, as it had all the ambitious and glory hungry fools before them, but Tiso couldn't, even if his hearts screamed for him to do so, for he knew if he had left, he would never have returned.

Wearily his eyes sought out the ghost's form amongst the wounded bugs, they had vanished through the exit gates quite some time ago, they had yet to return, the thought that they had abandoned him to fight alone sent a unwelcome wave of anxiety through his shell, were they truly as angry at him as they seemed?

He had never seen the little traveler as anything but stoic, but the way their bottomless eye holes bore into his shell when he refused to leave with them, the way they snatched their once tugging arms away from him when he had refused them, he could feel the unbridled fury.

They stormed off, their flying companion on tow, and had yet to return, he knew they intended him to come with them, yet something in the warriors shell told him they would not return, that would be the last time Tiso would meet his little companion and rival, it made him wonder of he refused because the need for glory or if it because he was being a cowered again..

* * *

The sounds of the roaring wind was calming, even if the stone bruised and bit painfully into the fallen warriors cracked and seeping shell, dried and rancid blood stuck to his shell and stained his hood.

He lied face up on the stone were he had finally landed, he desperately wished they spared him the decency of putting him out of his misery before dumping his body of the ledge along with other dead a s dying warriors, but no he was not.

Instead he was for forced to watch the countless bodies of the coliseum's other unfortunate victims fly passed as they to were dumped to their acidly death,

If his body could move he'd have hurled countless times as the smell of acid eaten bodies was suffocatingly pungent.

Things certainly want down hill for Tiso, but what was he to expect?

Certainly nothing else was expected from such a cut throat lace as the coliseum of fools!

Now look at him, he was a mess, likely in much worse state then his shield, ghost would be so disappointed in him.

His was mangled and he had been bleeding for days, he didnt dare assess his wounds, it doesn't take a genius to know when death is upon someone, shock would surly bring about the inevitable sooner rather than later.

Tiso can almost feel his life force bleeding out of his broken shattered body, just as swiftly as the blood leaks from his torn shell, leaving in its wake a muffled cold emptiness, numb, insistent, and throbbing throughout his limbs, phantom needless prickle and jab through the haze slowly creeping farther and farther as time goes.

But still he fought it, he didn't want to die like this, he wanted to fight to glory, die with honer and tell his dear friend he had done it for both of them, he wanted make due on his promise and spar with the night, he promised they'd meet in battle yet never once had their weapons had the chance to clash.

He didn't want to die alone, and pathetically emancipated on kingdom's edge, abandoned like unwanted rubbish, without even thought worth to toss properly into the acid, to wither away only to be forgotten, it was his one true fear.

He wanted his shield, but he couldn't feel his limbs enough to know if they tossed it down with him, he had lost the ability to move when they dropped the brooding mawlick carelessly onto the unprepared group of warriors.

He was reduced to a useless corpse without the mercy of dying, soon he would be one of the many shells that lay abandoned amongst kingdom's edge.

On the bright side, at least he had a great view, when their wasn't falling bodies obscuring it of course.

The coliseum was a trap, a stoked farce, spread to lure its victims into suicide, part of him feels foolish for falling into their web, for he knew already and willingly walked into their clutches.

The memory of the ghost's plea, filled the dying warriors mind and he wondered if they'd ever return to find him, would they put him out ifnhis misery like any good friend would? He hoped they would, it had been days but he found himself reluctant to die, he had always been a coward.

He would just wait for his friend to come help him like they always seemed to help those around them.

Yes, yes with that settled Tiso felt a heavy weight lifted from his chest, maybe now he could start thinking of a way to apologize to his dear friend who was no doubt waiting for him.

The knight did indeed found Tiso, but unfortunately it was long after the warrior had succumbed to his wounds...

The knight had no means of burying their friend, their corpse likely to fall apart at the slightest disturbance, instead they left a delicate flower against the still thorax of their dear foolish friend.

**Author's Note:**

> You've likely read this whole scene a thousend and one times, but let me have my go at it!  
> it will be important in the main arc of TPP:the rule of rot.
> 
> Also a person, made a post about that shield tiso uses (which is arguably a shitty weapon) and i had to shove it in there.
> 
> Let me know what ye think and how our dead warrior will tie into the Tpp main plot! 83


End file.
